Kazakh President Calls Border Guards’ Killing 'Terrorist Act'

Kazakhstan’s President Nursultan Nazarbaev has called the apparent killing of a group of Kazakh guards along the Kazakh-Chinese border “a terrorist act.”

Nazarbaev spoke to the heads of Kazakhstan's law-enforcement agencies in Astana on June 1 after the burned bodies of 14 border guards and a civilian forest ranger were found at a checkpoint that was set ablaze.

Nazarbaev said "all necessary measures" were being taken to find out what happened, but added that he considered the killings “a terrorist act.”

The bodies were brought to the capital, Astana, on June 1, for DNA identification.

Officials said a 15th border guard who was supposed to be at the site remains missing.

Kazakhstan sets up temporary checkpoints every summer along its border with China to prevent trespassing by Chinese farmers.